Preview: Hull v City

Without a win since the draw against us which ultimately cost Mark Hughes his job as manager, City will fancy their chances of three points against Phil Brown's Hullthis weekend. Last season's fixture resulted in an exciting 2-2 draw, Stevie Ireland with a double after the home side had promised to give us a going-over early on, helped by the now moved-on Tal Ben Haim.

Vincent Kompany and Micah Richards will both miss out with groin and calf strains, respectively. The loss of the Belgian will be an especially big blow. He's been superb for us since winning his place back in the side, and his assured head will be missed. I suspect Nedum Onuoha may get the nod over Dedryck Boyata, though either are more than capable of coming in and doing a good job.

Pablo Zabaleta will wear a protective mask after breaking his nose against Portsmouth. He should still start, but there's always the chance that Ned and Dedryck may both figure otherwise. Wayne Bridge could make his first start in two months after recovering from the ligament injury suffered against his former club Chelsea. Pat Vieira and Joleon Lescott are both expected to win places on the bench after also recovering following spells out.

I expect Brown will stick with the side that served him so well against probable champions Chelsea, with Steve Mouyokolo continuing in place of Kamil Zayatte (hamstring), and young Tom Cairney likewise for influential midfielder Dean Marney (calf). Jimmy Bullard is still out with the recurrence of his knee ligament injury, Algerian Khamel Ghilas doubtful with a thigh strain, and Iain Ashbee won't play again until next season.

Goalkeeper Boaz Myhill has been the undoubted hero of recent weeks, playing a huge part as his side have ground out three draws between heavy defeats at Wigan and United. Their fans will also have breathed a huge collective sigh of relief seeing the transfer window close and Stephen Hunt having not moved on. Like him or hate him, and i'm sure most are in the latter camp, i'm sure we can all appreciate he's the sort of player you would want lining up for rather than against your team were you struggling.

They'll likely go with a straight-forward 4-4-2, with the lively Jozy Altidore leading from the front, ably assisted by former Celtic marksman Jan Vennegor of Wotsit. Altidore, much as his goalscoring record isn't that impressive, is a player i've been impressed with, both for America previous to his summer move, and whilst at Hull. In patches against us in the 1-1 draw earlier this season he caused problems. He's strong, quick and on the big occasion well capable of dragging a defence around by the scruff of its neck.

What impressed me most about Hull's performance at Eastlands earlier in the season was the shifts put in by both wingers. Hunt and Garcia both worked their socks off both in our half and theirs, and whilst the latter is unlikely to play this time round, Craig Fagan is also a willing worker. They might need to play similarly well in order to stop Bellamy especially absolutely mullering the numpty that is Paul McShane.

We may well have to weather early pressure, but providing we keep tabs on Altidore and Hunt i think we should be able to cope. I can see them being a bit overconfident after their point midweek, and if they try playing against us rather than rattling us i imagine we'll have spells of heavy possession and be able to pick them off. It's a game where if we play well we should win.

Possible teams:
Hull: Myhill, McShane, Dawson, Mouyokolo, Gardner, Boateng, Fagan, Cairney, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Altidore, Hunt

City: Given, Zabaleta, Bridge, Toure, Onuoha, de Jong, Petrov, Ireland, Tevez, Adebayor, Bellamy

Prediction: Hull 1 City 2